Knighter10WHU wrote:I can't for the life of me understand why 20,000 people suddenly want to start getting a Season Ticket but didn't before. A few thousand maybe but 20,000 is a seriously high number, it's not far off doubling our season ticket holders.

2 main factors have been repeated on this forum over the past couple of years:

1. Transport Links / Accessibility:majority of fanbase live in Essex (also Kent, Herts, etc). Parking near the Bolyen is a nightmare. Having a single tube line, the District Line is a nightmare - especially taking kids and having to queue post-match. Example: currently many coming in from Essex on the Liverpool Street line now only change @ Stratford with about half of their journey time still in front of them!

WestHamIFC wrote:2 main factors have been repeated on this forum over the past couple of years:

1. Transport Links / Accessibility:majority of fanbase live in Essex (also Kent, Herts, etc). Parking near the Bolyen is a nightmare. Having a single tube line, the District Line is a nightmare - especially taking kids and having to queue post-match. Example: currently many coming in from Essex on the Liverpool Street line now only change @ Stratford with about half of their journey time still in front of them!

Parking at Stratford will be no better than the Boleyn, parking anywhere in London close to an event is a nightmare. I agree with the trains being better at Stratford however, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

How much could a 7 year old have got a season ticket at the Boleyn this season? Happy to stand to corrected but I can't imagine it was that much more than £99? The financial benefits of having a season ticket have been visible for all to see in the last 2/3 years.

Knighter10WHU wrote:Parking at Stratford will be no better than the Boleyn, parking anywhere in London close to an event is a nightmare. I agree with the trains being better at Stratford however, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Yes I think many who drive now will get the train next season (me included!) because of the better links.

That said, I do recall reading somewhere that there will be more parking spaces than previously thought.

Moving to a new ground will be tough for some, but more and more people are embracing it as it draws ever nearer.

Personally I see it as a great thing for the club, the improvements on the field are because of this, the players that came in last year were because the move is happening, and only a handful of games left to savour at the Boleyn now, lets enjoy every second of it.

Some people will probably chastise me for this but I see the ground as something like Triggers broom, it's had 17 new heads and 14 handles: - that a new pitch has been layed so many times and and the stands have all changed it's not the original ground any longer. What it does have are memories, good and bad, that we hold inside, these we can take anywhere and make new ones at the OS.

I first went in 1978. I sat in the West Stand Upper looking across to what must have been a fairly new East Stand. My last game was against Stoke in December and sat in roughly the equivalent spot albeit in a stand built further back and twice as big as the original.

I thought then that the only part that was here from 1978 was that East Stand opposite and that is younger than me.

The idea of 7 new brooms and 8 new handles is true in a way but of course it is the outside, the atmosphere and familiarity that also makes a place a home.

However its not some Bolton or Reading style move to a retail/industrial estate. Its still in Newham, fairly close to where we are now. I have even walked to stratford to get a train when the district line was shut after a night game many years back.

I'm convinced a new fantastic atmosphere will be created both on sunny August Saturdays and chilly February cup replays under the lights. We are what has made the magic, the noise, the faces, the humour.

I realise the club has applied for an increase in capacity to 60,000, but is there a design maximum capacity that the seating could be increased to without too much alteration to the structure?

If the club are close to selling out the stadium now, what is our potential average maximum capacity? Any on- field success is bound to attract glory hunters and more tourists. Maybe in 5 years the seating will need to be expanded again.

hammer the hamster wrote:I realise the club has applied for an increase in capacity to 60,000, but is there a design maximum capacity that the seating could be increased to without too much alteration to the structure?

the pink palermo wrote:Makes you wonder why Karren doesn't apply to increase the capacity to exactly one more than Arsenal , or one more than Tottenham have planned .

Because 60,000 should be possible very quickly and they can carry on selling STs, whereas more than that will require extra toilets, food/drink outlets and planning permission etc. That could take months. If all goes well they should be able to go for more later and then we would have the 2nd largest PL stadium.

the pink palermo wrote:Makes you wonder why Karren doesn't apply to increase the capacity to exactly one more than Arsenal , or one more than Tottenham have planned .

bengeo wrote:Because 60,000 should be possible very quickly and they can carry on selling STs, whereas more than that will require extra toilets, food/drink outlets and planning permission etc. That could take months. If all goes well they should be able to go for more later and then we would have the 2nd largest PL stadium.

I do like PP's thinking on that. Maybe we are keeping our powder dry for the new Tottingham stadium to be completed. When the seating is confirmed for that, we can increase ours to exceed theirs by 1.

hammer the hamster wrote:I do like PP's thinking on that. Maybe we are keeping our powder dry for the new Tottingham stadium to be completed. When the seating is confirmed for that, we can increase ours to exceed theirs by 1.

Yes and we have plenty of time. By then hopefully we can exceed them by a few thousand and not just 1!

hammer the hamster wrote:I do like PP's thinking on that. Maybe we are keeping our powder dry for the new Tottingham stadium to be completed. When the seating is confirmed for that, we can increase ours to exceed theirs by 1.

bengeo wrote:Yes and we have plenty of time. By then hopefully we can exceed them by a few thousand and not just 1!

It is an amazing thought that before all seaters grounds we had a maximum capacity stadium of about 42k and we didn't fill it for every game and now we are looking at 60k plus, and we may just fill it most weeks. I thought live televised games would decimated the numbers going, but somehow the attendances are climbing.

Parking at Stratford will be no better than the Boleyn, parking anywhere in London close to an event is a nightmare. I agree with the trains being better at Stratford however, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

How will parking not be better? There are thousands of spaces at Westfield. At a cost admittedly.

UptonPK wrote:How will parking not be better? There are thousands of spaces at Westfield. At a cost admittedly.

Nothing's been announced yet as far as I know, but don't be surprised if they introduce a policy for match days requiring you to validate your parking token during the match, or pay a significantly higher fee.